The Society of Editors has joined the heated debate over the potential impact of controversial new Scottish hate crime laws on freedom of speech.

The SNP-led Scottish government’s new Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act came into force on 1 April and means that “stirring up hatred” based on age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity or being intersex is now classed as a criminal offence.

As well as consolidating existing law on crimes “aggravated by prejudice”, it creates a new offence of behaviour that is “threatening, abusive or insulting” and “intends to stir up hatred” on the grounds of age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity and variations in sex characteristics.

Critics of the legislation – including the author JK Rowling – worry that the law will limit freedom of expression.

Speaking after the law came into effect last week, SoE executive director Dawn Alford, pictured, said: “While the Society supports efforts to tackle hate crime and prejudice, we remain concerned about the possible impact that the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act will have upon freedom of speech.

“The new law does contain some safeguards designed to protect freedom of speech, however we are concerned that the legislation could still be open to interpretation.”

Ms Rowling has dared the police to arrest her following the introduction of the Act and gender-critical activists staged a large protest against it in Edinburgh on Saturday.

They believe the Act fails to explicitly protect women and could limit their ability to speak out on what they see as a clash between their rights and those of transgender people.